3 Tips to Breathe New Life into an Old Home
If your property is over 20-years of age, chances are it might need a bit of a facelift and there are more than a few ways to breathe new life into the home, both inside and outside.
26/02/2022
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When you have lived in the same house for 20 or more years, there comes a time when you become complacent and don't give the same attention to things as you did when the house was new. Things such as ensuring painted walls and structures are free of cracks, dirt, stains or rust; cleaning or painting roof tiles; a well-functioning garage door - these are just a few tasks that get shuffled to the side until another day! But life so often gets in the way, and it becomes increasingly difficult to find the spare time to do tasks.
This article looks at a few ways you can breathe new life into a home in ways that won't take too much time or money to put into effect. Ways that will refresh your home both indoors and outdoors.
Planting a bed of colourful, drought-resistant, and indigenous plants provides a splash of colour without any care and attention. Simply plant them in a sunny spot and water occasionally.
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1. Bring Flowers into your Life
A simple way to breathe life into any home is to add flowers. It makes no difference whether it is indoors or outdoors, flowers can bring a smile to your face and add colour to your home interior or exterior.
- Flowers in the Garden
You don't need to be an expert gardener to add flowering plants to beds and borders, just a quick visit to your local garden centre or nursery to select the annuals, perennials, or plants you like and then to hire a garden labourer to dig up and plant everything. You don't even need to spend a lot of money to add flowers to the garden if you shop around for the best prices. I know that Builders usually have a selection of colourful plants that cost less than many garden centres and then I always keep my eye on the press for details of special offers.
Buying drought-resistant plants will save you money in the long run. Not only do they provide colour and texture, but they also require very little maintenance and will flower year after year with little care and attention.
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Homeowners who are not interested in any type of garden maintenance should purchase plants that require minimal attention other than occasional watering and plenty of sun or shade depending on the plant. Other than that, these colourful beauties will shine throughout the season. Agapanthus both blue and white doesn't require love to flourish and provide a colourful display in sunny beds. There are plenty of indigenous or hardy water-wise plants that provide a splash of colour without you having to do anything.
You don't have to fork out your hard-earned cash for fresh flowers. Take a walk into the country (close to you) and select a few pieces of foliage that would look great in a vase in your home.
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- Flowers in the Home
Cultivating flowers in the garden usually means that you will also have access to fresh flowers for the home, ones that you can cut as the garden produces blooms. Even if you don't have the space in your garden for flowering plants, there is still the option to purchase inexpensive fresh flowers for inside.
It is worth investing in a house plant that suits the conditions of where it will be placed (low-light, etc.) and splurging on an attractive pot or container to house the plant.
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Whether you have a green thumb or not, indoor plants literally breathe fresh air into a room. There are many plants that purify the air and, while you will need more than one or two plants for this, even a single plant will make a room feel fresh.
In this dark bedroom, the curtains on the inside of each window were removed, allowing the curtains to be opened to one side and allowing lots more natural light into the room.
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2. Let more Light into the Home
Natural light is nature's cure-all and when it flows into a home it instantly brightens up a room and refreshes you, making any room shine. Don't cover your windows with dark curtains but rather have lightweight curtains that bring vibrancy and install Roman or Venetian blinds if you need privacy.
A quick tip to allow more natural light into a room is to hang curtains at the sides of the window instead of over the edge of the window. This will let you open the curtains fully to the sides and let in more light.
Curtains in a light colour will give the illusion of more light in a room that does not receive a lot of natural light. Use lined curtains or blackout fabric if you need curtains to block out light in the evenings.
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3. Cover Up Dark Flooring
The flooring installed in a home can overwhelm a room if it is dark and that includes laminate flooring, ceramic or stone tiles and carpet. With hindsight you would consider this before installing flooring but, unfortunately, that is not the case, and it is only once the flooring is in place that you realise how it makes a room feel dark. There is a way to rectify this and that is to bring light coloured rugs into the room.
Dark flooring has the effect of making a room feel claustrophobic, but by adding a light coloured rug, the room instantly becomes brighter and more alive.
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In a room that does not receive plenty of natural light throughout the day, consider your flooring choice carefully. Lighter flooring might be a better option.
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If you are looking for ways to breathe new life into your home, take our 3 tips into consideration. Even applying one of the above tips in your home could make a big difference in how the room looks and feels.